Letters: Time for ministers to fulfil promises on tackling rampant anti-Semitism
SIR – Another day, another outrageous assault on the rights of Jews to live in peace in Britain. We have witnessed the inflammatory language of newly elected councillors (report, May 7), intimidation by Leftist and Islamist (but essentially ignorant) students on campuses, and further examples of the by now routine, supine compliance of the police with any demonstrator chanting slogans or carrying banners, no matter how obviously anti-Semitic.
Every day, we hear another bold statement by a Government minister that such behaviour will not be tolerated (Commentary, May 7). It’s now more than two months since the Prime Minister promised action. When can we expect results?
Brian Gedalla
London N3
SIR – There is no such thing as a lasting peace in the Middle East, just a ceasefire until the next massacre like that of October 7. Hamas propaganda has exposed to the world the underlying anti-Semitism that festers in all corners of society.
That an annual Holocaust memorial march at Auschwitz was disrupted by pro-Palestine activists (report, May 7) reveals the depths to which these groups will sink.
Bill Todd
Whitton, Middlesex
SIR – For decades, young British Jews have taken a gap year in Israel. Many attend colleges of religious further education; others volunteer on kibbutzim or join programmes organised by youth groups from every side of the political spectrum – but all share a belief in the establishment and continuation of the State of Israel as a way to avoid another Holocaust.
Over the years a few have decided to remain in Israel and become citizens, yet recently things have changed. This year a record number of Jewish youths refused to return to Britain and go to universities because of anti-Semitism. Why come back to the UK and be forced to pay for a university education at an institution that cannot or does not want to give you the support necessary to live a meaningful life where you do not have to hide your identity? Alternatively, you can remain in the country that wants you.
The activists on the lawns of Oxford and Cambridge fail to understand that being Jewish does not mean that you agree wholeheartedly with the policies of any particular Israeli government, and therefore any attempt to make the lives of Jews uncomfortable is anti-Semitism, pure and simple.
For hundreds of years British universities have been enhanced beyond measure by the presence of Jewish students and academics. If the numbers dwindle because of hatred directed at them by ill-informed bullies, British society will be far poorer, and that loss will not be made up by the overseas students who will take their place.
Gareth Kreike
Bury, Lancashire
Tory wreckage
SIR – The Conservatives’ sharp decline (Letters, May 7) dates back to 2016, not the lockdown in 2020 or Partygate.
In 2015 David Cameron achieved the first Conservative majority since 1992. He had a mandate to serve as prime minister until 2020. This was wrecked by Boris Johnson’s decision to campaign for Leave in the EU referendum.
Lord Cameron is an excellent Foreign Secretary. When I see him on the news, I feel dismayed that his premiership was fatally undermined by Mr Johnson’s personal ambition. It’s too late to salvage the wreckage.
Penelope Upton
Lighthorne, Warwickshire
SIR – When I was the Police and Crime Commissioner for the Thames Valley, I had one of the largest Conservative votes in the country. I no longer believe the current Conservative Party represents my views or that of most Conservative voters.
My very pleasant local MP is a member of the One Nation Conservatives, who seem to represent everything that has gone wrong with the party. This group should be disbanded and proper Conservatives put forward at the next election.
Anthony Stansfeld
Kintbury, Berkshire
SIR – The letter from Frederick Forsyth (May 7) hits the nail on the head. In relation to our woeful yet complacent Civil Service, I simply add the words: completely unaccountable.
Any political leader willing and able to tackle this problem gets my vote.
Kim Potter
Lambourn, Berkshire
Knives out
SIR – Victorinox is to make a Swiss Army knife without the knife (report, May 7). I have a number of the traditional knives and almost always carry one, which I use for everything from DIY to gardening to picnics. I’ve even unlocked a hotel bathroom door when my children managed to lock themselves in.
The law of England and Wales allows for foldable pocket knives to be carried, and Lord Hailsham specifically highlighted the Swiss Army knife as an example of what could still be carried under the Criminal Justice Act 1988, when the provision was being debated.
While I think it’s sensible for Victorinox to adapt its products for changing markets, personally I’m glad I can still carry my pocket knife, which I find more useful than the USB drive on the non-bladed version.
Paul Kelly
Chesham, Buckinghamshire
Take it on the chin
SIR – Louise Broughton (Letters, May 6) wants to know why so many men sport scruffy quarter-grown beards, whose texture she likens to “a pig’s back”.
I have always considered daily shaving a gross waste of 10 to 15 minutes. In my teens, I stopped shaving every day and started trimming my beard on a weekly basis.
I admit, though, that my wife of 54 years has been known to call me a “swine” on occasion.
Robin Bendon
Wrexham, Denbighshire
SIR – Some years ago, after 20 years of sporting a beard, I decided to shave it off. My wife hated the new image and for some time, until the new beard emerged, she referred to me as “my friend Geoffrey” when we were out and about.
I haven’t shaved since.
Peter McPherson
Merriott, Somerset
Assisted dying law
SIR – Professor John Keown (Letters, May 6) is right that the Health and Social Care Committee’s definition of “assisted dying/assisted suicide” is somewhat imprecise. Nevertheless, the committee is to be commended for seeking one that includes the words “assisted suicide”. Such language acknowledges that what is at stake is whether Parliament should maintain or weaken the legal prohibition on “encouraging or assisting suicide”.
My concern about Lord Falconer of Thoroton’s letter (May 4) comes less from his use of the ambiguous term “assisted dying” than his omission of “assisted suicide”. He refers to the select committee report on “assisted dying/assisted suicide”, but without telling us its full name. Deliberate omission is also a way to obfuscate.
Professor David Albert Jones
Director, Anscombe Bioethics Centre
Oxford
SIR – Keith Herdman (Letters, May 6) confirms that many who want assisted dying to be made legal expect an outcome not intended by backers of the current Scottish Bill, which contains “safeguards” to deny those who are just fed up with life from receiving help to kill themselves. This is a central problem in the argument: the evidence shows that once the value of life itself is undermined, assisted suicide will happen on demand.
John O’Donnell
West Mersea, Essex
Dependable Queen
SIR – In the year since his Coronation, King Charles has done an admirable job, and has become as popular as his much-loved late mother, in spite of the setbacks he’s suffered due to ill health.
However, in several articles giving him the praise he deserves there has been little mention of Queen Camilla. She has shown herself to be a rock on which he has been able to depend throughout his forced absence from public life. She has carried out duties with such dignity, and treated all those she has met with her usual friendliness and humour, showing that we are truly fortunate to have such a Queen.
Elisabeth Darley-Doran
Frome, Somerset
Farage’s ride
SIR – Why is Nigel Farage riding around in a BMW rather than a British-built Jaguar (“Farage’s car spotted in disabled parking space for 45 minutes”, report, May 7)?
Philip Corp
Salisbury, Wiltshire
Pinning the crimes of corvids on domestic cats
SIR – Natural England appears to want to blame the domestic cat for the depletion of songbirds (report, May 6). In the past decade I have observed countless songbird nests destroyed by jays and magpies – and not one by a cat.
Might I suggest it has the right cause but the wrong target?
Christopher Donnithorne
Gosport, Hampshire
SIR – I haven’t seen a robin in our garden for more than two years. The last was in the jaws of a neighbour’s cat. It killed two that morning.
Roger Fox
Torquay, Devon
SIR – Many years ago I put a collar with a bell on my cat to stop him catching birds (Letters, May 7).
He promptly went out and rolled his neck in the flower bed, thus filling the bell with soil so it would not ring.
Kathleen Glennon
Newcastle upon Tyne
The right outfit for meeting the bank manager
SIR – When my new husband and I were buying our first home, we could not afford to furnish it. We made an appointment with the bank manager (Letters, May 7).
My husband struggled to decide whether to wear his only suit and look a good prospect or his old sports jacket and look as if he needed the money. In the end he chose the suit.
We walked into the office and, before we could broach the subject of a loan, were met with the words: “Good morning John, how much do you want?”
Pam Booth
Hathersage, Derbyshire
SIR – When I told my first bank manager that my regiment was being posted to Austria, he gave me an overdraft of £100 on the grounds that, as a young officer, I would need to have some leeway financially. He was caught out by the auditors, so he told me to write a letter saying it was due to “the exigencies of the service” and that I would repay it when possible. I should then forget it and carry on as usual.
He was my post box when I was abroad and I stayed with him for the rest of his career. I never went into the red thereafter. What a shame that banks don’t have such managers today.
Christopher Piggins
Salisbury, Wiltshire
SIR – As a student, armed with a BUNAC non-immigrant workers visa, I spent a summer holiday working in Fort Worth, Texas, where I opened a bank account in which to deposit my wages. New account holders were offered a shotgun as a free gift. Fearing problems at the airport, I had to decline, and sadly there was no cash alternative.
Rosalind Grimes
Honiton, Devon
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